Holiday & Travel

According to the latest data from Trip.com Group (Ctrip), Chinese multinational online travel company that provides services including accommodation reservation, transportation ticketing, packaged tours and corporate travel management, bookings by Chinese tourists traveling to foreign destinations spiked by 640% during the Lunar New Year festival vs the same period last year, while foreign hotel bookings have quadrupled.

The Caribbean’s travel and tourism industry is no doubt making a strong rebound, and while results vary, some destinations are recording even more impressive results than the 2019 banner tourism year.

During the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s (CTO) business meetings in Curaçao last week, many of the region’s tourism directors, ministers and commissioners of tourism spoke about the exciting state of the industry, replete with opportunities for stakeholders, not the least of whom are the residents of the Caribbean.

As global tourism stakeholders and policymakers commemorate the first official Global Tourism Resilience Day, Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett today issued a call for the creation of a global tourism resilience fund to support tourism-dependent nations in periods of disruption.
 
The call came as key players in tourism from around the world, including the Caribbean and Africa, devoted the third day of the first-ever Global Tourism Resilience Conference to continuing discussions on the: Road to Global Sustainability and Development. Minister Bartlett expressed that “while we talk about building resilience for tourism we have to focus in the wider perspective on social, economic, political, health and security disruptions.”

Adriana Peña, wearing the costume Lisboa, designed by Santi Castro, is the Queen of the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2023. The candidate was crowned during a gala held last night at the International Trade Fair and Congress Centre of the capital.

The court of honour of the Tenerife Carnival is completed by the first lady, Hirisley Jiménez, with Metamorphosis (designed by Daniel Pages); Laura Fernández, with Así soy – this is me - (Sedomir Rodríguez); Carmen Hibner, Un mar de consciencia – sea of consciousness - (Alfonso Baute) and Marta Santana, with Historia de una reina – the story of a queen - (Alexis Santana).

The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) on February 15, 2023, announced the winners of the Caribbean Sustainable Tourism Awards Competition 2022 at a Virtual Awards Function. CTO has been hosting the Caribbean Sustainable Tourism Awards from 2000 to coincide with the start of the new millennium, in seeking to support and promote the sustainable development of tourism in the Caribbean.

Two of Antigua and Barbuda’s major source markets are driving a robust tourism recovery for the twin-island destination.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s business meetings in Curaçao last week, Colin James, Chief Executive Officer of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, reports that while the tourism sector recovered 88 percent of its 2019 business last year, both the United States and the United Kingdom had registered record levels of stayover arrivals in 2022.

As the tourism sector across the Caribbean registers strong post-pandemic results, the 25-member Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) is resuming several hallmark activities and events this year to help strengthen the region’s position as the world’s leading warm-weather destination.

Following business meetings in Curaçao last week, where ministers, commissioners and directors of tourism and their representatives met together as well as with tourism industry stakeholders, CTO chair Kenneth Bryan announced that 2023 will see the return of ‘Caribbean Week in New York’ in June, the State of the Industry Conference (SOTIC) in the Turks & Caicos Islands in the fall, and a conference focused on sustainable tourism development.

Curaçao, one of the Caribbean’s top performing tourism destinations, is playing host to leading tourism decision makers.

Ruisandro Cijntje, Curaçao’s Minister of Economic Development, welcomed directors, ministers and commissioners of tourism to the multilingual island as delegates prepared to attend the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s (CTO) first business meetings of the year.

My father, Basil, often implores that the Caribbean must continually remind the world that the archipelago is a diverse multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-culinary, multi-genre (musical), multi-lingual and multi-talented group of destinations.

Nestled between North and South America, with Central America to the west and bordered by the mighty Atlantic Ocean to the east, it’s no wonder the region has been influenced by diverse cultures and histories. Take Curaçao, for example.

Hong Kong is ready to welcome visitors from all around the world once again with open arms and open doors.

With the launch of the global promotional campaign “Hello Hong Kong”, Hong Kong is sending its greatest welcome to the world with 500,000 air tickets as well as city-wide offers covering “Hong Kong Goodies” visitor consumption vouchers, to entice travellers to come to experience Hong Kong’s diverse appeals.

Kenneth Bryan, Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), saluted the efforts of Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, to help start the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) and turn the world’s attention to recognizing the value of tourism as a global product.

The Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, through its Caribcation Brand and in partnership with the Guyana Tourism Authority, led a sales mission in Guyana from February 1st – 6th, in preparation for the introduction of new direct service between the two countries, on British Airways, beginning March 27, 2023. 
 
The mission tapped into the vastly expanding Guyanese market to promote Saint Lucia's tourism to attract more visitors. Led by Lorine Charles-St. Jules, CEO of the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, the delegation included the Marketing Manager for the Caribbean Region, Events and Sports- Christopher Gustave, and the CEO and Business Development Manager of the Saint Lucia Hospitality & Tourism Association, Noorani Azeez and Juliet Sutherland, respectively. 

Zanzibar tourism stakeholders are all set for the first tourism investment summit to take place on the island later this month, targeting to connect tourism investors from East Africa, Africa, and other tourist market sources in the world. Branded as “The Z Summit,” this international tourism summit is scheduled to take place from February 23 to 24 at Zanzibar’s Airport Golden Tulip Convocation Centre.

The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority (ABTA) has appointed Charmaine Browne-Spencer as Director of Tourism for the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region.

Spencer will be responsible for growing market share and destination arrivals from these regions, by focusing on strengthening strategic partnerships with regional stakeholders, building airlift capacity into the destination, and continuing to improve the destination’s public relations and brand awareness.

Frontier Airlines, which describes itself as an “ultra-low fare carrier”, is doubling down on service expansions to Puerto Rico, announcing new nonstop routes from seven U.S. cities and Cancun, beginning in May. Along with expanded service to San Juan and Aguadilla, Frontier will begin offering flights to Ponce, Puerto Rico for the first time, and will serve more routes to Puerto Rico than any other airline flying the Caribbean skies.

Birmingham Airport (BHX) has celebrated its 10 millionth customer of this financial year. To mark the moment, Turkish Airlines joined colleagues from BHX to present two free business class tickets to any destination on Turkish network to our 10 millionth customers - a couple called Tony and Jen.